Metal chip conveyor having internal chip removal structure

ABSTRACT

A metal chip conveyor having an internal chip removal structure includes an endless conveyor belt. An accommodating room of a machine body is divided into an inner space and an outer space. Two sides of the conveyor belt assemble with chains each having chain links. Each chain link has a first opening facing the inner space and a second opening facing the outer space. A guiding block is arranged in the inner space. The guiding block has a bottom surface, a blocking face, and a guiding gap. The bottom surface faces to the conveyor belt. The guiding gap lies at one side of the blocking face and communicates with the chain links. Therefore, metal chips are stopped by the blocking face and are moved to the guiding gap, then drop to the outer space via the chain links.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is being filed as a Continuation-in-Part of patent application Ser.No. 15/980,924, filed 16 May 2018, currently pending.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a chip conveyor, and more particularlyto a chip conveyor having a filtering device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 8, a conventional metal chip conveyor has a conveyorbelt 6 for conveying metal chips. Both sides of the conveyor belt 6 areprovided with a pair of chains 61. Each chain 61 has a plurality ofchain links 62. The rear end of the conveyor belt is provided withsprockets 7 to mesh with chain links 62 of the chains 61 for rolling theconveyor belt 6.

An inner space 63 is enclosed by the conveyor belt 6. The inner space 63communicates with the outside via the chain links 62 of the chain 61. Aportion of metal chips dropped on the conveyor belt 6 will fall into theinner space 63 and further fill the chain links 62. During the processof rolling the conveyor belt 6 by the sprockets 7, when the teeth 71 ofthe sprockets 7 are inserted into the chain links 62, the metal chipsare compacted into blocks to clog the chain links 62. After a period oftime, the chain links 62 are clogged with the metal chips. As a result,it is difficult for the sprockets 7 to accurately mesh with the chains61, which impairs the normal operation of the conveyor belt 6.

On the other hand, after the metal chip conveyor is used for a period oftime, the blocky metal chips will accumulate at the tail end of themachine body and must be periodically cleaned to maintain the normaloperation. However, the casing 8 at the rear end of the machine body isusually welded and cannot be partially removed. Therefore, the conveyorbelt 6 must be dismantled first, and the cleaning is performed in thelimited space. The cleaning is inconvenient, time-consuming andlabor-consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a metal chipconveyor having an internal chip removal structure. It uses acylindrical bush instead of a sprocket, and uses its cylinder wall tocover the chain links of the chains in the inner space enclosed by theconveyor belt, thereby preventing the metal chips in the chain linksfrom falling back into the inner space and ensuring that the metal chipsin the inner space to be discharged stably so as to maintain the normaloperation of the metal chip conveyor.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides ametal chip conveyor having an internal chip removal structure,comprising a machine body, an endless conveyor belt, and two supportbushes. The machine body has a casing. An accommodating room is enclosedby the casing. The endless conveyor belt is disposed in theaccommodating room and driven by a drive device. The accommodating roomdefines an inner space enclosed by the conveyor belt and an outer spaceoutside the conveyor belt. Two sides of the conveyor belt are providedwith a pair of chains each having a plurality of chain links. The chainlinks each has a first opening facing the inner space and a secondopening facing the outer space. The two support bushes are disposed atopposite sides of the casing and extend toward the accommodating room.The conveyor belt passes around the two support bushes and is supportedby the two support bushes. The support bushes cover the first openingsof the chain links corresponding in position to the support bushes whenthe conveyor belt is running. A rear end of the casing furtherly extendsa gathering space communicating with the outer space.

A guiding block is arranged in the inner space. The guiding block has abottom surface, a blocking face, and a guiding gap. The bottom surfacefaces to the conveyor belt. The guiding gap lies at least one side ofthe blocking face and communicates with the chain links. At least oneend of the guiding block is connected to the casing. The blocking faceis vertical to the bottom surface. At least one corner of the guidingblock is inclined sliced off for forming the guiding gap. The bottomsurface is closely bordered to the conveyor belt. Therefore, metal chipsare stopped by the blocking face and are moved to the guiding gap, thendrop to the outer space via the chain links, prevent the metal chipsfrom accumulating in the inner space.

In an embodiment, the opposite sides of the casing are provided with twodetachable cover plates. The two support bushes are disposed on the twocover plates, respectively.

In an embodiment, the support bushes each has a guide section to holdagainst the conveyor belt. The guide section covers the first openingsof the chain links corresponding in position to the guide section.

In an embodiment, the guide section has a curved contact surface to holdagainst the conveyor belt.

In an embodiment, the conveyor belt is provided with a plurality ofspaced crossbars extending outward toward the outer space.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view in accordance with a first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the rear portion of the machine body inaccordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is another exploded view of the rear portion of the machine bodyin accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention, forshowing a guiding block is arranged in an inner space;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the rear portion of the machine body inaccordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view in accordance with the first embodiment ofthe present invention when in use;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the rear portion of the machine body inaccordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the rear portion of the machine body inaccordance with a third embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a conventional metal chip conveyor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a metal chip conveyor having an internalchip removal structure in accordance with a first embodiment of thepresent invention comprises a machine body 1. The left and right sidesof the main body 1 are provided with casings 11. An accommodating room12 is enclosed by the casings 11. A conveyor belt 2 is disposed in theaccommodating room 12. The head and tail of the conveyor belt 2 areconnected to form an endless belt. The conveyor belt 2 is driven by adrive device 13 provided at the front end of the machine body 1 forconveying metal chips.

Two sides of the conveyor belt 2 are provided with a pair of chains 21.Wherein, each chain 21 is provided with a plurality of chain links 22for a sprocket (not shown) of the drive device 13 to mesh with the chainlinks 22 to roll the conveyor belt 2. As shown in FIG. 4, an inner space31 is enclosed by the conveyor belt 2 in the accommodating room 12, andthe space outside the conveyor belt 2 is defined as an outer space 32.Wherein, the inner space 31 can communicate with the outer space 32 viathe chain links 22 of the chain 21. Furthermore, each chain link 22 hasa first opening 221 facing the inner space 31 and a second opening 222facing the outer space 32, thereby communicating the inner space 31 andthe outer space 32.

The rear end of the machine body is provided with two support bushes 4for supporting the conveyor belt 2. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, thecasings 11 at the left and right sides of the machine body 1 areprovided with a pair of through holes 14 opposite to each other andcorresponding to the rear end of the conveyor belt 2. Each through hole14 is provided with a cover plate 15. The cover plate 15 is fastened tothe casing 11 with screws 16 to cover the through hole 14. The coverplate 15 can be detached from the casing 11. The support bush 4 isintegrally disposed on the cover plate 15. In this embodiment, thesupport bush 4 has a guide section 41A. The guide section 41A is acylindrical structure, and is formed with a curved contact surface onthe peripheral surface thereof. The guide section 41A extends toward theaccommodating room. As shown in FIG. 4, the conveyor belt 2 passesaround the two support bushes 4 and is supported on the curved contactsurfaces 42 of the two guide sections 41A, so that the conveyor belt 2can be stably and smoothly turned.

The conveyor belt 2 is supported by the guide sections 41A of thesupport bushes 4 so that the first openings 221 of the chain links 22 ofthe two chains 21, corresponding in position to the curved contactsurfaces 42 of the two support bushes 4, are covered and the chain links22 cannot communicate with the inner space 31 via the first openings221. Furthermore, since the conveyor belt 2 continues to be rolled bythe drive device, only the first openings 221 of a portion of the chainlinks 22 that are rolled to get contact with the curved contact surfaces42 of the guide sections 41A of the support bushes 4 are covered.

When the chip conveyor is running, if the metal chips dropped on theconveyor belt 2 are excessive, the metal chips may enter the inner space31 surrounded by the conveyor belt 2. According to the structure of thepresent invention described above, as shown in FIG. 5, the metal chips 5in the inner space 31 can enter the chain links 22 of the chains 21through the first openings 221. When the conveyor belt 2 is rolled andthe chain links 22 with the metal chips 5 are moved to get contact withthe curved contact surfaces 42 of the guide sections 41A, the firstopenings 221 are closed so that the metal chips fall into the outerspace 32 through the second openings 222 along with the movement of thechain links 22, ensuring that the metal chips 5 in the inner space 31can be discharged stably and won't fall back into the inner space 31through the first openings 221. This can prevent the accumulation of themetal chips in the inner space 31 to affect the normal operation of theconveyor.

In addition, the metal chips that fall into the outer space 32 mayaccumulate in a block and accumulate in the outer space 32. As shown inFIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5, the outer peripheral surface of the conveyor belt 2is provided with a plurality of spaced crossbars 23. Each crossbar 23extends outward toward the outer space 32. Accordingly, when theconveyor belt 2 is running, each of the crossbars 23 can be moved alongwith the conveyor belt 2 to push the blocky metal chips 51 up to the topsurface of the conveyor belt 2 and then to be discharged to the chipoutlet at the front end of the machine body.

The support bush 4 of the present invention has the cylindrical guideportion 41A instead of the conventional sprocket. When in use, as shownin FIG. 5, the guide portion 41A does not extend into the chain links 22so that the metal chips 5 won't be squashed and compacted and the chainlinks 22 won't be clogged with the metal chips 5. The metal chips 5freely fall into the outer space 32 through the second openings 222.

Furthermore, the metal chip conveyor of the present invention can beregularly cleaned to remove the internal metal chips. As long as thecover plate 15 (together with the support bush 4) is detached, thethrough hole 14 of the casing 11 can be opened to provide a passage forthe operator or a tool to easily enter the inner space 31 to clean upthe accumulated chips, without the need to dismantle the entire casingand the conveyor belt. Therefore, the present invention can reduce thecomplexity of the operation and the working time and improve theefficiency.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, a guiding block 17 is connected tothe casing 11. The guiding block 17 is arranged in the inner space 31.The guiding block 17 has a bottom surface 171, a blocking face 172, anda guiding gap 173. The bottom surface 171 faces to the conveyor belt 2.The guiding gap 173 lies at one side of the blocking face 172 andcommunicates with the chain links 22. The blocking face 172 is verticalto the bottom surface 171. At least one corner of the guiding block 17is inclined sliced off for forming the guiding gap 173. The bottomsurface 171 is closely bordered to the conveyor belt 2 so as to reduce agap between the bottom surface 171 and conveyor belt 2, prevent metalchips 5 from easily accumulating in the gap. Therefore, when theconveyor belt 2 is propelled, the metal chips 5 are stopped by theblocking face 172 and are moved to the guiding gap 173, then enter intothe chain links 22. After the chain links 22 contacts against the curvedcontact surface 42, the metal chips 5 are pressed by the curved contactsurface 42 and are dropped to the outer space 32, efficiently preventmetal chips 5 from accumulating in the inner space 31.

Furthermore, a rear end of the casing 11 furtherly extends a gatheringspace 18 communicating with the outer space 32, aims to increase thecapacity of the casing 11 for storing the metal chips 5.

FIG. 6 shows the second embodiment of the present invention. Thedifference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment liesin the shape of the guide section of the support bush. In thisembodiment, the guide section 41B is formed with an arc wall surface,having an arc length with a central angle of at least 180 degrees. Thecurved contact surface 42 is formed on the outer circumferential surfaceof the guide section 41B. Accordingly, the conveyor belt 2 is supportedon the guide section 41B, and the curved contact surface 42 covers thefirst openings 221 of the chain links 22 at the corresponding positionto prevent the metal chips from falling back into the inner space 31.

FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. The differencebetween the third embodiment and the first embodiment lies in the shapeof the guide section of the support bush. In this embodiment, the guidesection 41C is formed with an ear-like wall surface. The curved contactsurface 42 is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the guidesection 41C. Accordingly, the conveyor belt 2 is supported on the guidesection 41C, and the curved contact surface 42 covers the first openings221 of the chain links 22 at the corresponding position to prevent themetal chips from falling back into the inner space 31.

Although particular embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed in detail for purposes of illustration, various modificationsand enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not tobe limited except as by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A metal chip conveyor having an internal chipremoval structure, comprising: a machine body, having a casing, anaccommodating room being enclosed by the casing; an endless conveyorbelt, disposed in the accommodating room and driven by a drive device;the accommodating room defining an inner space enclosed by the conveyorbelt and an outer space outside the conveyor belt; two sides of theconveyor belt being provided with a pair of chains each having aplurality of chain links, the chain links each having a first openingfacing the inner space and a second opening facing the outer space; twosupport bushes, disposed at opposite sides of the casing and extendingtoward the accommodating room; the conveyor belt passing around the twosupport bushes and being supported by the two support bushes, thesupport bushes covering the first openings of the chain linkscorresponding in position to the support bushes when the conveyor beltis running; and a guiding block, arranged in the inner space, theguiding block having a bottom surface, a blocking face and a guidinggap, the bottom surface faced to the conveyor belt, the guiding gap liedat least one side of the blocking face and communicated with the chainlinks.
 2. The metal chip conveyor as claimed in claim 1, wherein theopposite sides of the casing are provided with two detachable coverplates, and the two support bushes are disposed on the two cover plates,respectively.
 3. The metal chip conveyor as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe support bushes each has a guide section to hold against the conveyorbelt, and the guide section covers the first openings of the chain linkscorresponding in position to the guide section.
 4. The metal chipconveyor as claimed in claim 3, wherein the guide section has a curvedcontact surface to hold against the conveyor belt.
 5. The metal chipconveyor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conveyor belt is providedwith a plurality of spaced crossbars extending outward toward the outerspace.
 6. The metal chip conveyor as claimed in claim 1, wherein atleast one end of the guiding block is connected to the casing.
 7. Themetal chip conveyor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the blocking face isvertical to the bottom surface.
 8. The metal chip conveyor as claimed inclaim 1, wherein at least one corner of the guiding block is inclinedsliced off for forming the guiding gap.
 9. The metal chip conveyor asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the bottom surface is closely bordered tothe conveyor belt.
 10. The metal chip conveyor as claimed in claim 1,wherein a rear end of the casing extends a gathering space communicatingwith the outer space.